Worcester PD moves into app space

Monday

Apr 8, 2013 at 6:00 AMApr 8, 2013 at 6:39 PM

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Instead of craning your neck to look out the window to see why police cruisers are converging on your neighborhood, grab an iPhone or Android-based phone and listen to the Police Department's radio chatter directly from its newly developed application for digital devices.

The app was scheduled to be released today.

Worcester Police will be one of the few East Coast police departments with such an app. Moreover, the comprehensive program appears to be one of the first to be complete with crime maps, a scanner and links to the department's social media pages.

“Say you are at home and start hearing police cruisers. With this app you can turn the scanner on and hear it,” said Capt. Paul B. Saucier, who worked on the app's creation.

Worcester Police worked with mobilepd, a Sunnyvale, Calif., company that created an app for the Santa Cruz Police Department — the first police department in the country with a departmental app.

The project began in June with lots of paperwork, including having Worcester police register with Apple Inc. The department worked with developers to define features, colors to use, integration of the department's crime maps and text-a-tip system.

While attending community crime watch meetings in the city, Captain Saucier continued to hear people ask for more information about programs or police news. The app offers all of this, the captain said.

Press releases, access to the department's Twitter and Facebook pages, along with the crime maps, YouTube videos and photo galleries are all at the swipe of a finger now.

“This is basically as transparent as you can get. Everything is going out,” Captain Saucier said. “People will have more information, and hopefully it will help us solve more crimes.”

The Santa Cruz Police Department rolled out its app more than a year ago to the town's roughly 62,000 residents. Jamieson Johnson, vice president of business development for mobilepd, said Worcester is the first department his company has worked with on the East Coast.

“This definitely is the most advanced one,” Mr. Johnson said of Worcester Police's app. “The scanner is definitely a fan favorite.”

When Santa Cruz Police rolled out its app, people used the scanner option in droves.

Mr. Johnson finds that many police departments react to what other departments do first, then jump on the trend. He gave Worcester Police credit for being in the forefront.

The cost to create the Worcester Police app was $7,000 with a yearly license-maintenance fee of $3,000, which comes out of the department's budget.

Officials reviewed the existing My Police Department app, something Ashburnham, Barre and Blackstone police have joined, but felt the creation of a Worcester Police app was a better way to go. Police departments also have to pay a fee to join that app.

Only a few other departments have an app that links people to a service that sends tips to police.

Chief Gemme said delivering information to the community outweighs the dollar amount for the cost of the project. The app enhances the transparency of the department, something already achieved through social media, he said.

“It is a way to reach a different demographic,” Chief Gemme said. “Younger people in their 20s and 30s use social media heavily and have new technology. The resources we expended are well worth it.”

The chief isn't surprised his department is ahead of the curve. He believes personnel within the department continue to show their creativity and that creativity turns into change that makes the department better.

“Their creativity is paying dividends to the community,” he said.

Capt. Saucier pointed out the success of the department's text-a-tip program as a reason to continue moving forward with easy-access information for the public. There is a warning on the app asking people witnessing or reporting crimes in progress to call 911.

“It's all for the public. We can't fight crime without the public helping us,” the captain said. “The more they know the more it is going to help us. We are the second largest city in New England. We should have our own police app.”

To download the app to your smartphone, search for "Worcester PD" in your device's app store.